Who killed my G9?
Do you have a Canon G9 died suddenly? You would find you are not alone when searching on the Internet.
If you are a G9 owner, you better read this tip, even your G9 is still alive. Why? Because there is a timer-bomb clicking inside! You don’t know when it is going to be triggered.
How to dismantle it? I’ll show you.But take out the battery before reading this tips.
Take off all the screws around the camera. Don’t forget this one.
(click on pictures to enlarge)
Remove the ring on the front cover and open up the camera. Can you see some thing weird? Not sure? Keep going.
Remove the screw here.
Remove screws shown on here, and take off the small cover.
Disconnect the cables and remove these screws too.
The screws fell off! This is the one you have seen on Figure 2. Where is the other one?
Here it is.
Disconnect the cable and turn over the board…
These loosen screws will go anywhere inside the camera. They may short the DC/DC board even the main board.
In this case, I found the fuse (shown with a letter ‘R’) was open. I connected a meter, lucky me, the unit turned on!
What is the remedy?
Before I find out the exact part number for the fuse, here is the temporary solution:
1. replace the fuse with a 1A 32V SMD fuse. (I found the current was not over 500mA)
2. put those screws back on the top cover with a little bit Thread Locker.
If the new fuse won’t solve your problem, you may need to replace the DC/DC board or main board .
Is your G9 still alive? You better open it, check it out.
I am on-track to possibly having the same problem. G9 less than 1-1/2 years old, gently used, 4000 shots. On powering off, lens only retracted part way. I heard a rattling sound inside. After I had power on again, zoom extended lens but would not zoom in. Then power failed.
Off to Canon service just now. Will take several days to get there. Am hopeful they will own up to the problem.
The Canon G9 is not a ‘gadget’ or a toy. At this level of photography tools, it would be a huge disappointment (to many avid fans I expect) if the Canon brand did not mean much… or worse if their business model was designed to convert such defects into service center profit.
Hi, Canon fixed the problem for free 2 months out of warranty: They replaced the DC board. Unfortunately I do not know if they loctited the screws this time: I was convinced that everything was “tightened” though.
Well my G9 died. Had this camera since June 08. Talked to Canon and they said since it’s out of warranty I’m out of luck. gonna be $150 just for them to look at the thing. Suffice it to say I’m very disappointed in them.
Here’s an update on my experience sending G9 to Canon Factory Service.
When I emailed them w/ info about rattle and power-failure suspecting ‘screw loose’, they sent me a shipping label and their pre-filled work order to “evaluate for fallen screw”. BTW, in my email I had mentioned the Service Notice: PowerShot SD950 IS: Fallen Screw in Strap Base.
Well, what I received was not an evaluation of the screw loose or fallen. Nothing of the sort. Just a standardized repair quote form (“…enabling Canon to provide repair estimates free of charge.”). The only hint they looked at the camera was ‘examination details’: citing dust/debris on LCD, lens extended and such. Then the ‘flat rate repair’ statement.
I sent a followup email asking for reconsideration and escalation. I resent the email twice as I was not receiving replies. I called, but the phone rep did not have access to the email side of the house.
So this is 2 weeks since my initial contact to Canon. Given their lack of replies, I have requested the camera returned to me. I have two issues with the department/process. 1) I am not getting any response or acknowledgment around this failure instance potentially being a defect. They seem to ignore it. 2) if I would opt for Canon repair, I do not have any voice in getting my own unit back… they may substitute refurb of same model or “an equivalent to your equipment”. Given no info on the root cause and little control over actions taken, plus the lack of communication, I am a consumer who is reluctant to put out $159.90 for that ‘service’.
Note. I am not bitter nor angered. Camera is out of warranty. I just expect service and support to be service, support, informative and professional.
Am curious what others are or will experience on this.
Thank you for the update.
Mostly the ‘fallen screws’ causes a totally dead camera. In your case, it seems deferent. It looks like the camera turned off because ‘lens error’. The lens jammed. Maybe the rattle is from small pieces which fallen off inside the lens.
There is not Service Notice on G9 so far on Canon site. So there is no guarantee you can get a free repair even caused by ‘fallen screw’ when the camera is out of warranty:-(
Any source for the fuse or mainboard on the G9? I had mine die yesterday and through your excellent pictorial found both screws between the boards as shown. Is it possible to simply jumper the fuse as a short term solution?
Thank you for you posting!!!! That was exactly what happened to my G9!!!
Those cables are so fragile and I dont have any tool except for my screw driver… It took me almost 3 hours to fix it….
Any tips on how to get the wider cable in step 5 back in? Having a hell of a time doing that right now… Thank you in advance.
@BM
If you don’t have strong tips tweezers, try a needle please. Unlock the connector by flipping up the clipper; insert a needle (with needle eye side) in the hole of the cable, then force the cable into the connector.
Thank you for the quick reply – could you point out where the clipper is located in figure 5, or describe what the clipper is? I just eased out the cable by gently tugging on the ‘handles’ on either side, so I never unlocked the connector.